Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

"What is it?" Hu Sanniang asked curiously.

“That young girl just now should be Liu Huiniang, the ‘Female Zhuge Liang’,” Zhao Yuan said with a somewhat strange expression.

It's no wonder he's like this; given the world we live in now...

Zhao Yuan originally thought it was a story from Water Margin, but he saw Pang Chunmei in Yanggu County.

Only then did I realize that the shadow of *Jin Ping Mei* still lingered here.

And now he has encountered Liu Huiniang in Chuzhou.

He then discovered that this world had actually incorporated the Chronicles of the Suppression of Bandits!

The novel *The Tale of the Suppressing Bandits* is famous for its anti-*Water Margin* theme.

Many of the characters, including Lei Jiang, are specifically designed to counter the Liangshan heroes.

In the novel *The Water Margin*, all 108 heroes of the Water Margin meet tragic ends, many of them dying because of their own signature skills.

Take Liu Huiniang for example, she can be considered a bug-like character.

Not only is he intelligent and quick-witted, but he also has a photographic memory.

She can memorize any academic text after just one glance.

Besides this position, she was also very skillful and loved making all kinds of utensils.

She can make all these things herself: wooden oxen and flowing horses, self-ringing clocks, mechanical beasts, and mechanical wooden figures.

Besides being intelligent and skillful,

Liu Huiniang was born with a keen eye; she could discern the smallest details in the dark and identify people within a range of two or three hundred miles by daytime when climbing mountains.

She was practically a human telescope and night vision device, and even that telescope couldn't see as far as she could.

This girl is incredibly knowledgeable, from astronomy to geography; she understands Yin and Yang, the Eight Trigrams, Qimen Dunjia, and Dunjia, strategizing and winning battles from afar.

In *The Tale of the Suppressing Bandits*, her sole purpose is to suppress Wu Yong.

Every time Wu Yong clashed with her, he was constantly restrained, suffered heavy losses, and was defeated in an extremely humiliating manner.

Suddenly, I met such a formidable person.

Zhao Yuan's expression was somewhat strange, which was naturally understandable.

"Liu Huiniang, the female strategist? Is this girl very famous?"

Hu Sanniang was somewhat surprised: "Judging from their accents, they should also be from Shandong, but I've never heard of this name before?"

Never heard of it before? That's right!

Zhao Yuan remembered,

The title "Female Zhuge Liang" was originally given to Liu Huiniang by her parents because they admired her intelligence and cherished their daughter.

This name later spread among the outlaws and became famous throughout the martial arts world.

That was when Liu Huiniang became the chief strategist of Yuanbi Village.

After repeatedly defeating the government troops through troop deployment, strategic planning, and other tactics,

This is how she earned the title of "Female Zhuge Liang".

2.0 "She may not be famous now, but she will definitely be known by everyone in the future,"

After Zhao Yuan finished speaking, he quickly strode off in the direction the carriage had gone.

Although I don't know if the Liu Huiniang in this world has the same kind of bug as in the Chronicles of the Suppression of Bandits.

Even without her clairvoyance, her intelligence and dexterity were enough to make Zhao Yuan want to keep her.

Seeing her lover's hurried figure,

Hu Sanniang stomped her foot in anger, muttering, "I can tell you're just reluctant to part with her looks!"

Even so, she still followed behind Zhao Yuan and accompanied him in the search.

However, after that earlier delay, there was no longer any carriage in sight on the street.

Zhao Yuan led Hu Sanniang to search every street in the town, but still found nothing...

Chapter 177 Li Kui Hijacks the Ship

While Zhao Yuan and Hu Sanniang were searching for Liu Huiniang's whereabouts,

An uninvited guest also arrived at the dock.

A burly man asked the boatman, who was tidying up cargo by the side of a passenger ship.

"Hey, boatman, is your boat going back to Shandong?"

The boatman didn't even look up, and replied irritably.

"Go back to your mother! Shandong is plagued by disease right now, who dares to go back..."

Before he could finish speaking, his collar was suddenly grabbed.

The boatman then realized that a burly, dark-skinned man was standing in front of him.

This burly man was shirtless, revealing his thick, bear-like flesh and his body as playful as an iron ox.

Add to that his straight, reddish-yellow eyebrows, bloodshot eyes, and messy hair and beard like an iron brush, and you'd feel a chill down your spine just looking at him.

"You son of a bitch! I'm just asking if your ship is going back to Shandong or not, what does that have to do with my mother! Why are you cursing her!"

The burly man cursed angrily and slapped the 18-year-old boatman across the face!

The boatman's right cheek immediately swelled up.

He was about to call the sailors on the ship to come out and deal with this brute when he suddenly noticed that the man had two huge battle axes tucked into his lower back.

The boatman, a frequent traveler himself, immediately realized that the man before him was not to be trifled with.

If we call in the sailors and it leads to a melee, we'll be the ones who suffer the most casualties.

Thinking of this, he quickly smiled and said, "Grandpa Blackie, please don't be offended. I'm also from Shandong. Because of the pandemic, I had to go south, and I'm in a bad mood, which is why I spoke rudely! Please forgive me, Grandpa Blackie!"

"That's more like human language."

The burly, dark-skinned man loosened the boatman's collar and asked, "Are there any boats returning to Shandong at this dock?"

"There's a plague going on over there, and everyone here is fleeing south. Where is the north...?"

The boatman was only halfway through his sentence when he noticed the burly man's expression change. Fearing he might take the opportunity to cause trouble again, he quickly said...

"However, this morning I did see three passenger ships heading north. They looked like they were a group. Look, they're over there!"

The boatman pointed to the passenger boat that Zhao Yuan and his companions were on.

The burly man looked up and glanced around.

"Understood, thank you for letting me know, boatman!"

After saying that, he strode towards Zhao Yuan's passenger ship.

"Damn black bastard, you slapped me for no reason, you deserve to be in this mess!"

The boatman, clutching his swollen cheek, watched the burly man's retreating figure, a surge of schadenfreude rising within him.

He had clearly seen this morning that there were about twenty people on the three passenger ships, all of them carrying knives and guns.

This burly, dark-skinned man speaks crudely. If he says the wrong thing, the two sides might start fighting, and then I can avenge him for slapping me in the face!

......

On the passenger ship, Zhao Yuan and the others had already disembarked and gone off to stroll around, leaving only Zhang Shun and Wang Dingliu to keep watch.

The two men brought their elderly mothers and fathers to the deck, where they sat in wicker chairs, basking in the sun and chatting.

As for Zhang Shun and Wang Dingliu themselves, they also asked the boatman for some braised chicken and duck, and two jars of turbid wine.

The two sat on the gunwale, leisurely eating and drinking.

"Brother Zhang Shun, after spending these past few days together, you should understand Brother Zhao's personality by now, right?"

Wang Dingliu advised, "Once we arrive at Liangshan Marsh, come with us up the mountain. Let's all act on behalf of Heaven, eliminate evil and bring peace. Wouldn't that be wonderful!"

"To be frank, brother, I've had my eye on this for a long time,"

Zhang Shun said helplessly, "But this matter still needs my mother's approval. I did something wrong in the past and hurt her feelings, but I can't be unfilial now."

"Hehe, as long as you're willing, brother, then this matter is settled."

Wang Dingliu laughed heartily, "Brother Zhao dared to make such a solemn oath, so his actions of acting on behalf of Heaven, punishing evil gentry and killing corrupt officials must all be true. When I see it, I will definitely nod my approval for brother to go up the mountain."

As the two were chatting happily, a burly, dark-skinned man walked up to the boat and asked, "Boatman, is your boat heading north?"

“We are not boatmen, but this boat is indeed heading north,” Wang Dingliu replied casually.

"Is it really a passenger ship heading north? That boatman was indeed a good man; he didn't lie to me after all!"

The dark-skinned man said something with a smug look on his face, and then jumped onto the boat without saying another word.

"Hey, man, this passenger boat has been chartered by my brother, it's not for outsiders!"

Wang Dingliu stepped forward to stop him.

Unexpectedly, the dark-skinned man casually flung him, causing him to fall and crash into the ship's side.

Over the past two days, Zhang Shun had already developed a good rapport with everyone on the ship.

Seeing Wang Dingliu suffer a loss, he immediately stepped forward and angrily said,

"Are you looking for trouble, man?"

"When did I cause trouble?"

The burly man sneered, "Since it's a passenger ship, anyone can sit on it. This guy insisted on kicking me off the ship, so what if I pushed him?"

"Don't try to be unreasonable! My brother already said that this boat has been chartered by our elder brother and we're not taking any outsiders!"

As Zhang Shun spoke, he raised his hand to chase the burly man off the boat.

Unexpectedly, even after pushing him twice, the burly, dark-skinned man remained completely unmoved.

"Heh heh, with your meager strength, you think you can push your grandpa Li Kui!"

The burly, dark-skinned man smiled smugly, then suddenly grabbed Zhang Shun090's arm and threw him aside.

"Boom!"

Zhang Shun followed in Wang Dingliu's footsteps and crashed headfirst into the railing.

“Brother, this guy is too strong. On flat ground, we are no match for him!” Wang Dingliu said, helping Zhang Shun up, looking frustrated.

"Hehe, now that you've figured it out, why don't you quickly find the boatman and set sail north immediately!"

The burly man, Li Kui, urged, "I have important business to attend to back in Shandong, and I can't afford to delay any longer!"

With Zhao Yuan and the others still missing, Zhang Shun and Wang Dingliu, tasked with watching the boat, could not tolerate the passenger ship being taken away by this burly man.

"Brother, go and look after our parents, don't let them be frightened!"

Zhang Shun gave Wang Dingliu an instruction, then got up again and walked towards the burly man.

"Brother, please be careful!"

Wang Dingliu knew his own abilities were limited, and that if he stepped forward, he would only be a burden to Zhang Shun.

All I could do was give them a heads-up while glancing towards the dock, hoping to see other people returning.

Here

Seeing Zhang Shun approaching again, Li Kui said impatiently, "You're no match for me, no matter how many times you try. Hurry up and tell the boatman to set sail! If you're even a fraction too slow and anger me, I'll burn your damn boat!"

Chapter 178 Black Whirlwind Suffers a Setback in the Water

"You dark-skinned fellow, since you want to take a boat, do you dare to have a contest with me?"

Zhang Shun sneered, "If you defeat me, you can board the ship and travel north with us."

"You can't beat me, so what's the point of comparing?"

Li Kui snorted, then shoved Zhang Shun aside and was about to find a boatman to start the boat himself.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Shun mocked, "I can tell you're just scared, you cowardly rat!"

"Who said Grandpa is scared?"